NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER wins every single head-to-head test against the RTX 4070 SUPER, taking all 10 recorded benchmarks. The largest margin comes in the modern DirectX 12 workload, 3DMark Steel Nomad, where the 4080 SUPER scores 6600 against 4627 for the 4070 SUPER, a decisive 42.6% advantage. This gap is far larger than the overall average score difference would suggest, indicating that the 4080 SUPER scales exceptionally well under heavy, current-generation rendering loads.

In compute-oriented tests, the 4080 SUPER also dominates. Geekbench OpenCL shows a 26.8% lead (219065 vs 172795), while Geekbench Vulkan is nearly identical at 26.5% (260075 vs 205624). These results indicate that the 4080 SUPER's additional shading units and tensor cores translate directly into raw throughput advantages across both OpenCL and Vulkan APIs. The PassMark GPU Compute test confirms the trend, with the 4080 SUPER scoring 19822 versus 17108, a 15.9% edge.

DirectX legacy workloads tell a similar story, though with narrower margins. In PassMark DirectX 9, the 4080 SUPER leads by 10.8% (381 vs 344), and in DirectX 10 the gap is 15.6% (193 vs 167). DirectX 11 shows a 10.3% difference (301 vs 273), while DirectX 12 delivers a 21.8% advantage (134 vs 110). Notably, the DirectX 12 gap is more than double the DirectX 11 gap, reinforcing that the 4080 SUPER's architectural advantages become more pronounced with newer APIs that better utilize its hardware resources.

The overall 3D gaming performance metric, PassMark G3D, gives the 4080 SUPER a 14.2% lead (34245 vs 29995). The 2D performance test, PassMark G2D, shows the smallest margin at 7.3% (1270 vs 1184), which is expected since 2D workloads rarely stress the GPU's compute or memory subsystems. Across all tests, the 4080 SUPER's average benchmark score is 54209, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, while the 4070 SUPER averages 43223 and sits in the 83rd percentile.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 SUPER in the most demanding modern game benchmark?

A: In 3DMark Steel Nomad (DirectX 12), the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 6600 versus 4627 for the RTX 4070 SUPER, making it 42.6% faster. This is the largest performance gap of any recorded test.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER win in every benchmark category?

A: Yes. Out of 10 head-to-head tests covering DirectX 9 through DirectX 12, OpenCL, Vulkan, compute, 2D, and 3D workloads, the RTX 4080 SUPER wins all 10. The RTX 4070 SUPER does not win a single test.

Q: Which card has better compute performance for non-gaming workloads?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER leads in PassMark GPU Compute with 19822 points against 17108 for the RTX 4070 SUPER, a 15.9% advantage. Geekbench OpenCL shows a larger 26.8% gap (219065 vs 172795), indicating strong compute scaling.

Q: How do these cards compare to their closest rivals in the database?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER's average score of 54209 is within 0.1% of the RTX 4080 (54247), and it trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE by 2.7%. The RTX 4070 SUPER's average of 43223 is within 0.1% of the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262) and GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268), and 1% behind the RTX 4090 Mobile (43667).

Q: What is the difference in overall average benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER averages 54209, while the RTX 4070 SUPER averages 43223. This represents a 25.4% higher average score for the 4080 SUPER across all recorded benchmarks.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear hierarchy: the RTX 4080 SUPER is the superior GPU in every measured dimension. Its average benchmark score of 54209 versus 43223 for the RTX 4070 SUPER represents a roughly 25% overall performance advantage, and the gap widens to 42.6% in the most demanding DirectX 12 workload. The 4080 SUPER also holds a higher percentile ranking at 86 versus 83 for the 4070 SUPER, meaning it outperforms a larger fraction of all GPUs in the database.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates in current and future DirectX 12 titles, the 4080 SUPER is the clear choice. Its 42.6% lead in Steel Nomad, a workload designed to stress modern rendering techniques, suggests the performance gap will only grow as games adopt more advanced features. The 4070 SUPER, while competitive in legacy DirectX 9 and 11 tests (within 10.3% to 10.8%), falls progressively further behind as API complexity increases.

The 4070 SUPER does have one notable advantage in the data: its thermal and power profile. It carries a 220 W TDP versus 320 W for the 4080 SUPER, and its dual-slot design (versus triple-slot) makes it a more practical fit for smaller cases. The suggested PSU requirement is also lower at 550 W versus 700 W. Users building compact systems or with stricter power budgets should note these differences.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every core specification. The RTX 4080 SUPER uses the AD103 chip, while the 4070 SUPER uses AD104. Shading units stand at 10240 for the 4080 SUPER versus 7168 for the 4070 SUPER, a 43% difference that closely tracks the shading-unit-to-performance scaling observed in benchmarks. Texture mapping units (TMUs) are 320 versus 224, and raster operation units (ROPs) are 112 versus 80.

Clock speeds also differ: the 4080 SUPER has a base clock of 2295 MHz and boost of 2550 MHz, while the 4070 SUPER runs at 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost. Memory configurations diverge significantly: the 4080 SUPER offers 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, whereas the 4070 SUPER provides 12 GB on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s. The memory clock is 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective) for the 4080 SUPER versus 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) for the 4070 SUPER.

The 4080 SUPER has 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, compared to 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores for the 4070 SUPER. Pixel rate is 285.6 GPixel/s versus 198.0 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 816.0 GTexel/s versus 554.4 GTexel/s. FP32 and FP16 throughput are both 52.22 TFLOPS for the 4080 SUPER versus 35.48 TFLOPS for the 4070 SUPER.

Physical dimensions vary considerably: the 4080 SUPER measures 310 mm in length, 140 mm in height, and 61 mm in width (triple-slot), while the 4070 SUPER is 267 mm by 112 mm by 42 mm (dual-slot). Both cards use a single 16-pin power connector and PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. Display outputs are identical at 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

Both cards share the Ada Lovelace architecture and are built on TSMC's 5 nm process, but they diverge in die size and transistor count. The 4080 SUPER's AD103 die measures 379 mm² and contains 45,900 million transistors, while the 4070 SUPER's AD104 die is 294 mm² with 35,800 million transistors. The transistor density is nearly identical at 121.1M per mm² for the 4080 SUPER and 121.8M per mm² for the 4070 SUPER, indicating the same process node and design methodology.

The 4080 SUPER's larger die accommodates 80 RT cores versus 56 on the 4070 SUPER, reflecting a 43% increase in ray tracing hardware. Tensor core count scales similarly at 320 versus 224. The memory subsystem is also architecturally different: the 4080 SUPER employs a 256-bit memory bus versus 192-bit on the 4070 SUPER, and the effective memory speed is higher at 23 Gbps versus 21 Gbps. This combination yields 736.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth for the 4080 SUPER, a 46% advantage over the 4070 SUPER's 504.2 GB/s.

Both cards feature 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratios, meaning they do not use dedicated half-precision acceleration beyond what the standard CUDA cores provide. Both share identical API support profiles, including DirectX 12 Ultimate with the 12_2 feature level. The key architectural distinction is scale: the 4080 SUPER has approximately 28% more transistors, 43% more shading units, and 46% more memory bandwidth, all of which contribute to its consistent benchmark superiority.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4080 SUPER wins in every scenario where raw performance matters. Its 42.6% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad makes it the definitive choice for high-refresh-rate gaming at maximum settings in DirectX 12 titles. The 26.8% OpenCL and 26.5% Vulkan advantages extend its dominance to compute-heavy applications, including rendering, machine learning inference, and GPU-accelerated productivity workloads. The 15.9% lead in PassMark GPU Compute further confirms its suitability for general-purpose compute tasks. For users targeting 4K gaming or demanding creative workflows, the 4080 SUPER's 16 GB memory capacity and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth provide headroom that the 4070 SUPER's 12 GB and 504.2 GB/s cannot match.

The RTX 4070 SUPER wins in scenarios defined by physical constraints rather than performance. Its 220 W TDP versus 320 W means lower power consumption, and its dual-slot design at 267 mm length fits into cases that cannot accommodate the 4080 SUPER's triple-slot 310 mm footprint. The suggested PSU requirement of 550 W versus 700 W makes the 4070 SUPER compatible with a wider range of existing power supplies. In legacy DirectX 9 and 11 workloads, the 4070 SUPER remains within 10.3% to 10.8% of the 4080 SUPER, making the performance penalty relatively modest for older games. For users with space or power constraints who primarily play less demanding titles, the 4070 SUPER offers a more practical physical package while retaining respectable performance.